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Women’s basketball sees 42-point win over USC on Senior Night

Michaela Onyenwere was just four points short of a career high, scoring 30 points in potentially her last game in Pauley Pavilion. The senior forward added a career-high six 3-pointers on 100% shooting from beyond the arc as No. 10 UCLA women’s basketball picked up the win. (Lauren Man/Assistant Photo editor)

Women’s Basketball


USC51
No. 10 UCLA93

By Francis Moon

Feb. 26, 2021 7:53 p.m.

This post was updated Feb. 28 at 6:32 p.m.

Despite a slow start offensively, the Bruins were able to close out the regular season with a victory in a record-setting night for the program.

In what could be her final home game, senior forward Michaela Onyenwere hit several career milestones en route to a 93-51 victory for No. 10 UCLA women’s basketball (14-4, 12-4 Pac-12) over USC (10-11, 8-10). Senior forward Lauryn Miller, redshirt junior guard Lindsey Corsaro and Onyenwere were all honored after the game for Senior Night. 

Onyenwere scored 30 points – just under her career high of 33 – to reach 1,776 total points in her UCLA career and climb into ninth on the all-time scoring list. She also recorded a career high in 3-pointers made with a perfect 6-of-6 showing from beyond the arc. 

“It’s definitely cool,” Onyenwere said. “There’s so many great basketball players who have come before me who really have trailblazed the way for me to be here today, and so I’m super grateful. It’s such an honor, but not really something I really pay attention to too much. I have just been lucky to have had great teammates and a great four years here.”

Coach Cori Close said improving her 3-point shooting was an area of focus for the team’s leading scorer last season, and her performance tonight was a culmination of that effort.

“(Onyenwere) has been working on her 3-point shot more than anything, and that’s been a real growth area for her this year, and she put so much time into it last summer,” Close said. “I wrote them all letters today, and I pretty much cried through writing them, but with (Onyenwere), I told her, ‘You are one of the top players to play at UCLA.’”

Corsaro recorded a season-high-tying 14 points while tying her career high with four 3-pointers on five attempts as well. The team set a school record for 3-pointers made in a game with 16 on 23 attempts.

Corsaro said the team has been working on taking advantage of defenses collapsing by creating open looks for its long-range shooters. 

“It was one of those nights where people were just hot and feeling it and riding that wave,” Corsaro said. “It’s always nice when you come into the game and you’re feeling that early. I also think we’ve been working a lot on drawing defense in when we penetrate and then kicking out. … (We knew) that those kick-outs will be there, and I thought we executed that pretty well.”

The Bruins put up just 14 points on 4-of-13 from the field and committed six turnovers in the opening period, but still managed to hold the lead after heading into the second quarter by allowing the Trojans to score just 11 points of their own.

“We were taking way tougher shots than we needed to (in the first quarter),” Close said. “And obviously the turnovers were very uncharacteristic of us, and I thought it was just really sloppy.”

A switch was flipped beginning in the second quarter, however, as UCLA poured in 29 points behind seven 3-pointers and no turnovers to take a 43-23 lead into the halftime break. Onyenwere, Corsaro and sophomore guard Charisma Osborne all found themselves in double figures, combining for 37 first-half points. 

The offense continued to click after the break, as the Bruins put up at least 24 points in each of the final two quarters. The team shot 57.1% from the field and 80% from the 3-point line in the second half while committing just five more turnovers.

After missing a season-high 17 shots in her last game against Oregon State last Sunday, Osborne secured her first career triple-double and the ninth in UCLA history with a fastbreak assist to freshman guard Dominique Darius with 1:34 remaining in the final quarter. Osborne finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and 12 assists while committing zero turnovers in the contest. 

“Not many things are gonna knock (Osborne) down,” Onyenwere said. “It was a tough night for her against Oregon State, and I think she took that to heart, but it didn’t change how she was in practice. … She never loses her confidence or swagger. And that’s how we know we can always count on her, especially in nights like this.”

With the win, the Bruins secured their first season sweep over their crosstown rival since the 2017-2018 season. After suffering its first loss of last season to the Trojans, UCLA has now outscored USC by 63 points this season, including a 73-52 road victory Dec. 13. 

The game marked the largest victory for UCLA over USC in program history, and the team will have the chance to carry over the momentum as it prepares for the Pac-12 tournament, which is set to commence Wednesday.

“We watched the film and really looked in the mirror, quite frankly,” Miller said. “We didn’t point fingers, and we all just really took accountability for what we did poorly Sunday in our own individual performances. And we’ve focused on how we can get back to our own standards by ourselves and as a unit, and I think that showed today.”

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Francis Moon | Sports senior staff
Moon is currently a Sports senior staff writer. He was previously an assistant Sports editor on the women's basketball, men's soccer, track and field and cross country beats and a contributor on the women's basketball and women's tennis beats, while also contributing for Arts. He is a fourth-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student.
Moon is currently a Sports senior staff writer. He was previously an assistant Sports editor on the women's basketball, men's soccer, track and field and cross country beats and a contributor on the women's basketball and women's tennis beats, while also contributing for Arts. He is a fourth-year molecular, cell and developmental biology student.
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